In the same way that earlier vocal distortion represented God, the effect on his voice in "All Eyes on Me" seems to signal some omniscient force outside of Burnham. Burnham is especially aware as a creator constantly reflecting on his own life. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. But by using this meta-narrative throughout the whole special, Burnham messes with our ability to know when we're seeing a genuine struggle with artistic expression versus a meticulously staged fictional breakdown. Still terrified of that spotlight? A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon, By submitting your email, you agree to our, Bo Burnhams Inside begs for our parasocial awareness, Sign up for the (SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "BO BURNHAM: INSIDE"). In this time-jumping dramedy, a workaholic who's always in a rush now wants life to slow down when he finds himself leaping ahead a year every few hours. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. BO BURNHAM: (Singing) If you'd have told me a year ago that I'd be locked inside of my home, I would have told you a year ago, interesting, now leave me alone. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. But in both of those cases, similarity and connection would come from the way the art itself connects people, not any actual tie between Burnham and myself, Burnham and the commenter. Got it? In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. He is not talking about it very much. Burnham has said in interviews that his inspiration for the character came from real YouTube videos he had watched, most with just a handful of views, and saw the way young women expressed themselves online. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Some of the things he mentions that give him "that funny feeling" include discount Etsy agitprop (aka communist-themed merchandise) and the Pepsi halftime show. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. As we explained in this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside," Bo Burnham's newest special is a poioumenon a type of artistic work that tells the story of its own creation. WebBo Burnham's "Inside" special on Netflix is an incredibly detailed musical-comedy artwork. ", "I do not think my intention was homophobic, but what is the implicit comedy of that song if you chase it all the way down? The penultimate song, "All Eyes On Me," is the best in the whole special, in this writer's opinion. It's progress. There's also another little joke baked into this bit, because the game is made by a company called SSRI interactive the most common form of antidepressant drugs are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, aka SSRIs. An older Burnham sits at a stool in front of a clock, and he says into a microphone that he's been working on the special for six months now. Self-awareness does not absolve anyone of anything, he says. In the song Problematic, Burnham sings about his past problematic behavior, asking the audience, Isnt anyone going to hold me accountable? The specials intermission looks like a clear view into Burnhams room, until Burnham washes a window between himself and the viewer an explicit, but invisible, boundary between creator and audience. He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. Tapping on a synthesizer, he sings about the challenges of isolation as he sits on a cluttered floor, two striking squares of sunlight streaming in through the windows of a dark room. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. It is set almost entirely within one room of his Los Angeles guest house, the same one shown in the closing song of the June 2016 Make Happy special, titled Are you happy?. This plays almost like a glitch and goes unexplained until later in the special when a sketch plays out with Burnham as a Twitch streamer who is testing out a game called "INSIDE" (in which the player has to have a Bo Burnham video game character do things like cry, play the piano, and find a flashlight in order to complete their day). He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. In Unpaid Intern, Burnham sings about how deeply unethical the position is to the workers in a pastiche of other labor-focused blues. During the last 15 minutes of "Make Happy," Burnham turns the comedy switch down a bit and begins talking to the audience about how his comedy is almost always about performing itself because he thinks people are, at all times, doing a "performance" for one another. The Volcano, which touched on labor rights. His career evolved through YouTube, MTV, Vine, his movie "Eighth Grade," and now Netflix's "Inside." Anything and everything all of the time. He points it at himself as he sways, singing again: Get your fuckin hands up / Get on out of your seat / All eyes on me, all eyes on me.. For fans who struggle with panic attacks (myself included) its a comfort to see yourself represented in an artist whose work you respect. Exploring mental health decline over 2020, the constant challenges our world faces, and the struggles of life itself, Bo Burnham creates a wonderful masterpiece to explain each of these, both from general view and personal experience. And like unpaid interns, most working artists cant afford a mortgage (and yeah, probably torrent a porn). Burnham says he had quit live comedy several years ago because of panic attacks and returned in January 2020 before, as he puts it in typical perverse irony, the funniest thing happened. Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. . Burnham can't get through his words in the update as he admits he's been working on the special much longer than he'd anticipated. It feels like the ending of a show, a climax, but it's not. While sifting through fan reactions to Inside, the YouTube algorithm suggested I watch a fan-made video that pitch corrects All Eyes on Me to Burnhams actual voice. Netflix. WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. The arrogance is taught or it was cultivated. @TheWoodMother made a video about how Burnham's "Inside" is its own poioumenon, which led to his first viral video on YouTube, written in 2006, is about how his whole family thinks he's gay, defines depersonalization-derealization disorder, "critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible.". True, but it can deepen and clarify art. Now we've come full circle from the start of the special, when Burnham sang about how he's been depressed and decided to try just getting up, sitting down, and going back to work. Burnham had no idea that his song would be seen more than 10 million times,nor that it would kick start his career in a niche brand of self-aware musical comedy. Finally doing basic care tasks for yourself like eating breakfast and starting work in the morning. Burnham may also be trying to parody the hollow, PR-scripted apologies that celebrities will trot out before they've possibly had the time to self-reflect and really understand what people are trying to hold them accountable for. Inside, a new Netflix special written, performed, directed, shot, and edited by comedian Bo Burnham, invokes and plays with many forms. Bo Burnham: INSIDE | Trailer - YouTube 0:00 / 2:09 The following content may contain suicide or self-harm topics. Depression acts like an outside force, one that is rather adept at convincing our minds to simply stay in bed, to not care, and to not try anymore. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. While platforms like Patreon mean creators can make their own works independently without studio influence, they also mean that the creator is directly beholden to their audience. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube. But then the music tells the audience that "he meant to play the track again" and that "art's still a lie, nothing's still real.". Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Coined in 1956 by researchers Donald Horton and Richard Wohl, the term initially was used to analyze relationships between news anchors who spoke directly to the audience and that audience itself. So for our own little slice of the world, Burnham's two time spans seem to be referencing the start and end of an era in our civilization. The special is available exclusively on Netflix, while the album can be found on most streaming platforms. In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. The hustle to be a working artist usually means delivering an unending churn of content curated specifically for the demands of an audience that can tell you directly why they are upset with you because they did not actually like the content you gave them, and then they can take away some of your revenue for it. WebStuck in a passionless marriage, a journalist must choose between her distant but loving husband and a younger ex-boyfriend who has reentered her life. Its horrific.". Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. When he appeared on NPR's radio show "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross in 2018, the host played a clip of "My Whole Family" and Burnham took his headphones off so he didn't have to relisten to the song. The song made such a splash in its insight that it earned its own episode in Shannon Struccis seminal Fake Friends documentary series, which broke down what parasocial relationships are and how they work. Fifteen years later, Burnham found himself sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to sit back down at his piano and see if he could once again entertain the world from the claustrophobic confines of a single room. Its an uncanny, dystopian view of Burnham as an instrument in the soulless game of social media. Bo Burnham also uploaded Welcome to the Internet and White Womans Instagram on his YouTube channel. ", "On September 17, the clock began counting down from seven years, 103 days, 15 hours, 40 minutes and seven seconds, displayed in red," the Smithsonian reported. The whole song ping pongs between Burnham's singing character describing a very surface-level, pleasant definition of the world functioning as a cohesive ecosystem and his puppet, Socko, saying that the truth is the world functions at a much darker level of power imbalance and oppression. On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. ", From then on, the narrative of "Inside" follows Burnham returning to his standard comedic style and singing various parody songs like "FaceTime with My Mom" and "White Woman's Instagram.". It's conscious of self. It's an instinct that I have where I need everything that I write to have some deeper meaning or something, but it's a stupid song and it doesn't really mean anything, and it's pretty unlikable that I feel this desperate need to be seen as intelligent.". "A part of me loves you, part of me hates you," he sang to the crowd. and concludes that if it's mean, it's not funny. Oops. The whole song sounds like you're having a religious experience with your own mental disorder, especially when new harmonies kick in. BURNHAM: (Singing) Could I interest you in everything all of the time, a little bit of everything all of the time? He doesn't really bother with any kind of transitions. Theres a nostalgic sweetness to this song, but parts of it return throughout the show, in darker forms, one of many variations on a theme. It's wonderful to be with you. He says his goal had been to complete filming before his 30th birthday. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? Please enter a valid email and try again. The question is now, Will you support Wheat Thins in the fight against Lyme disease?). It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. My heart hurts with and for him. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. Its easy to see Unpaid Intern as one scene and the reaction videos as another, but in the lens of parasocial relationships, digital media, and workers rights, the song and the reactions work as an analysis for another sort of labor exploitation: content creation. Not a comedy per se, but a masterpiece nonetheless. I think this is something we've all been thinking about. One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. Inside takes topics discussed academically, analytically, and delivers them to a new audience through the form of a comedy special by a widely beloved performer. Hes bedraggled, increasingly unshaven, growing a Rasputin-like beard. So he has, for example, a song in which he adopts the persona of a kind of horror movie carnival barker, you might call it, who is trying to sell people the internet. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. Its a lyrically dense song with camerawork that speeds up with its rhythm. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. ", Right as Burnham is straightening up, music begins blaring over the speakers and Burnham's own voice sings: "He meant to knock the water over, yeah yeah yeah, but you all thought it was an accident. A harsh skepticism of digital life (a life the pandemic has only magnified) is the dominant subject of the special. Burnham wrote out: "Does it target those who have been disenfranchised in a historical, political, social, economic and/or psychological context?". His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. WebBo Burnham's Netflix special "Inside" features 20 new original songs. The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. HOLMES: Yeah. Burnhams 2013 special, what., culminates in Burnham, the performer, reacting to pre-recorded versions of himself playing people from his life reacting to his work and fame, trying to capitalize on their tenuous relationship with him. Doona! Just as often, Burnhams shot sequencing plays against the meaning of a song, like when he breaks out a glamorous split screen to complement a comic song about FaceTiming with his mom. "Problematic" is a roller coaster of self-awareness, masochism, and parody. It's prison. I'm talking to you, get the f--- up.". At first it seems to be just about life in the pandemic, but it becomes a reference to his past, when he made faces and jokes from his bedroom as a teenager and put that on the internet. The song is like having a religious experience with your own mental disorder. Then, of course, the aspect ratio shrinks again as the white woman goes back to posting typical content. The song untangles the way we view peoples social media output as the complete vision of who they are, when really, we cannot know the full extent of someones inner world, especially not just through social media. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. "I don't know that it's not," he said. Other than Fred Rogers, Bo Burnham is one of the most cited single individual creators when discussing parasocial relationships. I mean, honestly, he's saying a lot right there. Something went wrong. He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. The special is hitting an emotional climax as Burnham shows us both intense anger and then immediately after, a deep and dark sadness. Come and watch the skinny kid with a / Steadily declining mental health, and laugh as he attempts / To give you what he cannot give himself. Like Struccis Fake Friends documentary, this song is highlighted in Anuska Dhars video essay, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness. Burnhams work consistently addresses his relationship with his audience, the ways he navigates those parasocial relationships, and how easy they can be to exploit. I'm sitting down, writing jokes, singing silly songs, I'm sorry I was gone. Using cinematic tools other comics overlook, the star (who is also the director, editor and cameraman) trains a glaring spotlight on internet life mid-pandemic. Burnham spent his teen years doing theater and songwriting, which led to his first viral video on YouTube a song he now likely categorizes as "offensive.". But then the video keeps playing, and so he winds up reacting to his own reaction, and then reacting yet again to that reaction. Not putting a name on parasocial relationships makes the theme less didactic, more blurred while still being astutesuch sharp focus on the eyes, you dont notice the rest of the face fades into shades of blue. But in recent years, theres been enough awareness of online behavior to see how parasocial relationships can have negative impacts on both the creator and the audience if left uninterrogated by both parties. Its called INSIDE, and it will undoubtedly strike your hearts forevermore. Its an instinct I have for all my work to have some deeper meaning or something. Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. Burnham's career as a young, white, male comedian has often felt distinct from his peers because of the amount of public self-reflection and acknowledgment of his own privileges that he does on stage and off screen. And notably, Burnhams work focuses on parasocial relationships not from the perspective of the audience, but the perspective of the performer.Inside depicts how being a creator can feel: you are a cult leader, you are holding your audience hostage, your audience is holding you hostage, you are your audience, your audience can never be you, you need your audience, and you need to escape your audience. Open wide.. But now Burnham is back. Might not help but still it couldn't hurt. A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall. Theres always been a tension in his comedy between an ironic, smarty-pants cleverness and an often melodramatic point of view. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. Entertainment correspondent Kim Renfro ranked them in ascending order of greatness. Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. Thank you so much for joining us. ", When asked about the inspiration for the song, like if people he knew thought he was gay, Burnham said, "A lot of my close friends were gay, and, you know, I wasn't certain I wasn't at that point.". But also, it's clear that there's a lot on his mind. A distorted voice is back again, mocking Burnham as he sits exposed on his fake stage: "Well, well, look who's inside again. "And so today I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. Some of the narrative of the show can be indulgently overheated, playing into clichs about the process of the brooding artist, but Burnham has anticipated this and other criticisms, and integrated them into the special, including the idea that drawing attention to potential flaws fixes them. Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. Its folly to duplicate the feel of a live set, so why not fully adjust to the screen and try to make something as visually ambitious as a feature? The first comes when Burnham looks directly into the camera as he addresses the audience, singing, Are you feeling nervous? And many of them discuss their personal connection to the show and their analysis of how Burnham must have been thinking and feeling when he made it. Burnham's growth is admirable, but also revealing of how little we expect from men in the industry. So when you get to the end of a song, it often just kind of cuts to something else. ", And last but not least, for social media he put "sexually pranking unsuspecting women at public beaches" and "psychologically abusive parents making rube goldberg machines" alongside "white people using GIFs of Black people widening their eyes.". I hope to see you inside at some point. He's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." He decided to stop doing live performances, and instead set out to write and direct his first feature film, the critically-acclaimed 2018 movie "Eighth Grade." And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. WebBo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. An astronaut's return after a 30-year disappearance rekindles a lost love and sparks interest from a corporation determined to learn why he hasn't aged. See our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. All rights reserved. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. At the start of the special, Burnham sings "Content," setting the stage for his musical-comedy. But, of course, it tangles that right back up; this emotional post was, ultimately, still Content. For all the ways Burnham had been desperate to leave the confines of his studio, now that he's able to go back out into the world (and onto a real stage), he's terrified. Thank you, Michel. If "All Eyes on Me" sounds disconcertingly comforting to you, it could be because you can recognize the mental symptoms of a mood disorder like depression. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Is he content with its content? / Are you having fun? The crowd directions are no longer stock pop song lyrics; now, the audience understands them as direct orders to them from Burnham. When the song starts, the camera sitting in front of Burnham's mirror starts slowing zooming in, making the screen darker and darker until you (the audience member at home) are sitting in front of the black mirror of your screen. Its a stupid song, and, uh, it doesnt really mean anything. The video continues. Most creator-made content online is available for free, meaning creators usually have to rely on their fans for income via crowdfunding like Patreon. And the biggest risk Burnham takes in the show is letting his emotional side loose, but not before cracking a ton of jokes. . "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). MARTIN: And it's deep, too. And she's with us now to tell us more about it. Mid-song, a spotlight turns on Burnham and shows him completely naked as a voice sings: "Well, well, look who's inside again. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. It's self-conscious. Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. WebBo Burnham: Inside (2021) Exploring mental health decline over 2020, the constant challenges our world faces, and the struggles of life itself, Bo Burnham creates a. wonderful masterpiece to explain each of these, both from general view and personal experience. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. "And so, today, I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. While talking to the audience during the opening section, Burnham takes a sip out of a water bottle. But during the bridge of the song, he imagines a post from a woman dedicated to her dead mother, and the aspect ratio on the video widens. The special was nominated for six Emmy Awards in 2021, of which it won three: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Music Direction. Inside doesnt give clear answers like parasocial relationships good or parasocial relationships bad, because those answers do not, and cannot, exist. Or was it an elaborate callback to his earlier work, planted for fans seeking evidence that art is lie? "The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. WebA biotech genius tries to bounce back from the depths of grief with help from his son, who works to escape his dads shadow and save the family business. HOLMES: So before he was this celebrated filmmaker, Bo Burnham was himself a YouTube star. "The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all," is another of Burnham's lyrics in this song that seems to speak to the idea that civilization is nearing collapse, and also touches on suicidal ideation. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---, you say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried," he sings. Instead of a live performance, he's recorded himself in isolation over the course of a year. Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. WebBo Burnham is more than a comedian he's a writer-director-actor who first went viral in 2006. our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. Were complicated. Good. .] The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. It also seems noteworthy that this is one of the only sketches in "Inside" that fades to black. "Part of me needs you, part of me fears you. But before that can register, Burnham's eyes have closed and the special transitions to the uncannily catchy song "S---," bopping about how he hasn't showered in nine days or done any laundry. They Cloned Tyrone. And he's done virtually no press about it. Web9/10. This special spoke to me closer and clearer than Ive ever felt with another person. Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. HOLMES: Yeah. By inserting that Twitch character in this earlier scene, Burnham was seemingly giving a peek into his daily routine. Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. A part of me loves you, part of me hates you / Part of me needs you, part of me fears you / [. As someone who has devoted time, energy, and years of research into parasocial relationships, I felt almost like this song was made for me, that Burnham and I do have so much in common.